10 Greatest Jedi Knights Of 'The High Republic'

Star Wars

Oct 19

The High Republic has been running for nearly four years and ends next summer. But, in that time, it has introduced fans to a treasure trove of characters, be they Jedi, Nihil, or civilians. We at CultureSlate felt it was high time to highlight these characters through a brief rundown of some of our favorites in various categories. We will broadly try and find characters who are in the same roles across all Phases but will make choices in categorizing certain characters based on their activities in a given Phase or transformation as a character. Today, we will run through ten of the greatest Jedi Knights of The High Republic!

Warning: This article will contain spoilers up to and including Wave 2, Phase 3 of The High Republic.

10. Dagan Gera

Giving the title “greatest” to someone like Dagan Gera may appear baffling, but it comes from two different approaches. The antagonist of Star Wars: Jedi: Survivor, Dagan Gera, is still notable as an incredibly skilled and passionate Jedi while also highly driven and an excellent pilot to boot. However, his fall to obsession certainly tarnishes his legacy, as he kills several fellow Jedi in the frantic desire to return to Tanalorr. However, Dagan Gera is also notable for how he ended up surviving into the era of the Galactic Empire, something not even many long-lived Jedi of his era could accomplish. Once there, he rapidly finds and trains an elite squad of lightsaber-wielding warriors serving his old friend Rayvis and also wields his lightsaber against Cal Kestis and other foes despite now missing an arm. This incredible control of the Force is something rarely seen in canon Star Wars. In the end, Dagan is a tragic figure, and while his greatness is obscured by his flaws, it still exists in the memories and traces of the good he enacted during his lifetime.

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9. Lily Tora-Asi

A lead character in the Edge of Balance manga series produced across The High Republic, Lily Tora-Asi is a Jedi who has battled some unique threats in her time. Stationed to the Jedi outpost on the planet Banchii, Lily, her Padawan, and other Jedi and civilians of the refugee colony founded there encounter a unique strain of the Drengir. Capable of turning people to wood, these Drengir are defeated, only for the Nihil to come knocking. While many are forced to evacuate, Lily remains, defending the planet for a time and also tending to the graves of those who died in the fighting, including her own Padawan. In Phase 3, Lily, along with others, has built an entirely new Jedi outpost and receives a visit from Master Yoda, Reath Silas, and Azlin Rell due to strange activity by the Drengir.

The Jedi and their allies soon face a second attack by the Nihil and combat their Nameless with the help of former foes, the Drengir. Lily has had a long, winding road as a Jedi across Phases 1 and 3, from being uncertain about her role as a teacher and protector to being greatly at peace with what has happened and learning from her tragic experiences. With her unique katana-inspired dual lightsabers, she is certainly a Jedi to keep an eye on as Phase 3 draws to a close.

8. Indeera Stokes

Indeera Stokes played a prominent role in Phase 1 of The High Republic, serving as friend and fellow Jedi to those others stationed on the planet Elphrona, Loden Greatstorm, Bell Zettifar, and Porter Engle. However, after Loden’s apparent death by the end of Light of the Jedi, Indeera steps up and offers herself to become Bell’s new master until he feels he is ready to take the Jedi Trials. She proves to be a thoughtful and devoted caretaker to an already competent young man with a lot on his mind. However, her skills are driven into overtime following the traumatic, true loss of Loden at the hands of the as-of-yet unknown Nameless. Deeply affected by this loss, The Fallen Star sees her confront a Nameless and live to tell the tale, though the experience puts her into a coma. When we see her next, in Shadows of Starlight, she moves around with a robotic chair, her recent experience leaving lasting scars. She has since been mentioned across Phase 3 and remains a part of the Jedi Order. Like many in this era, Indeera has been through a lot, but her tireless service to the Order and drive to help those in need make her a great Knight, and that’s not even mentioning her excellent skills as a pilot!

7. Gella Nattai

One of the main characters in the novels Convergence and Cataclysm, Gella, is a Jedi Knight somewhat adrift in life, having declared herself a Wayseeker. Suffering doubts from a failed mission in the recent past, Gella fears for the future as the Forever War’s brief period of peace begins to wane. The arrival of Axel Greylark, the spoiled son of Chancellor Kyong Greylark, results in significant friction as she and Axel do not get along in their escort mission of the planetary heirs across the unforgiving lands of E’ronoh. When Axel betrays the group, though, no one is more hurt than Gella. Soon drawn into investigating the Path of the Open Hand, Gella travels to Dalna and fights at the Night of Sorrow.

She helps to save Axel and reconciles with him as she can see he regrets his actions. Surviving the battle and having little contact with the Nameless, Gella stands out for building a friendship with the heirs of Eiram and E’ronoh, helping to ensure peace between their worlds in the process, and for her role as a Wayseeker. Hopefully, she carried on in that role but carried on to have many more years with the Jedi Order after her wanderings came to an end.

6. Bell Zettifar

Bell Zettifar has been a staple across Phases 1 and 3 of The High Republic. Introduced in Light of the Jedi as Padawan to the great Jedi Loden Greatstorm, Bell and his companion, the charhound Ember, have been through a lot. He believed he lost his master by the end of his introduction novel, fought through the Nihil’s attack on the Republic Fair in The Rising Storm before losing his master for real, and then saw his best friend probably die and his replacement master put into a coma on Starlight Beacon during The Fallen Star. This was all when he was just a Padawan. Since becoming a Knight during the Shadows of Starlight comic series in the wake of rescuing his friend Burryaga, Bell has continued to serve in the conflict against the Nihil with Burry at his side. He is ultimately one of the most seasoned Jedi Knights we know about, trained by a great Jedi who taught him how to truly connect with others. On top of it all, he’s made time to become friends with the Jedi Younglings on the planet Tenoo, as seen in episodes of Young Jedi Adventures. He is a dedicated, devoted, and complicated young man who has weaved a long path through all adult novels and several side stories in the initiative. We are excited to see where he ends up when the last page turns on Trials of the Jedi.

5. Orla Jareni

Oria Jareni — Image Source: Wookieepedia

The spotless Orla Jareni, an Umbaran Jedi, was introduced to readers in Into the Dark and has since remained extremely significant. A childhood friend to Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus, Orla declared herself a Wayseeker and was on her way to the frontier when the Great Hyperspace Disaster rocked the galaxy. She ended up part of the Jedi team who awakened the Drengir, but later resumed her Wayseeking ways, encountering Keeve Trennis and helping defeat the Drengir Root Mind as part of the main Marvel comic from 2021. In the wake of the Nihil’s attack on the Republic Fair, Orla briefly stayed with the Jedi of Starlight Beacon but later went into seclusion with Elzar Mann, helping the Jedi Knight heal their emotional instability as a result of touching the Dark Side during the events of The Rising Storm.

However, in The Fallen Star, Orla ultimately met her fate at the hands of a Nameless and was husked, a death felt many lightyears away by her close friend Cohmac while on Corellia. Orla represents a far different Wayseeker than Gella Nattai but is still similar to Gella in how she became involved in some of the most important events of her time. We mourn her loss and hope we learn more about her younger years, as we have copious teases about a past mission with Stellan Gios and a romantic flirtation with the Trandoshan Jedi Sskeer.

4. Reath Silas

Reath Silas has been one of the main High Republic characters across Phases 1 and 3. Originally a Padawan to Jedi Council member Jora Malli, he was traveling out to meet her on the frontier when the Great Hyperspace Disaster stranded him. Alongside the likes of Orla Jareni and Cohmac Vitus, Reath accidentally awakened the Drengir, though he was later able to help defeat its leader, the Root Mind. He had an adventure combatting an evil gravity weapon being built by the Nihil in Out of the Shadows but made his biggest impact with Midnight Horizon, where he, other Jedi, and copious allies on Corellia battled Nihil forces. However, his second Master, Cohmac Vitus, suddenly stepped away from the Jedi Order, leaving the scholarly Reath to be knighted. As one of their brightest minds, he began to devote himself to the threat of the Nameless, and more recently, in Tears of the Nameless (phenomenal book), exploring the mysterious blight beginning to impact worlds across the galaxy. Reath has come a long way since his days as a Padawan, and his scholarly focus also marks him out as unique among the Jedi of The High Republic. It will be a treat to see where he ends up when Phase 3 wraps up, but to also watch his story in the ongoing Echoes of Fear miniseries from Dark Horse Comics.

3. Elzar Mann

Elzar Mann is one of the most notable Jedi in The High Republic, appearing in all adult novels for Phases 1 and 3, and is one of the big three characters alongside Avar Kriss and Stellan Gios. Elzar was always an unconventional Jedi, approaching problems from different angles and having an irreverence that let him question the rules. However, he also had a deep attachment to Avar Kriss, which reawakens as Phase 1 begins. Elzar has quite the arc, helping to solve the mystery of the Great Hyperspace Disaster, fighting the Nihil at the Valo Fair but giving himself to the Dark Side in a moment of weakness, and later making a terrible mistake as Starlight Beacon plunges into the sea of Eiram. Elzar is now ubiquitous across several comics and novels, taking on a very active role in the Jedi’s fight against the Nihil and recently coming to serve as a liaison from the Jedi to the office of Chancellor Lina Soh. He has also learned a lot following the death of his close friend Stellan Gios, slowly becoming more and more like him while he also maintains his deep connection with Avar Kriss, a connection now fully reciprocated in Temptation of the Force. It will be exciting to see the finale of The High Republic and where Elzar Mann ends up!

2. Azlin Rell

Azlin Rell is one of the more unique entries on this list, as a Jedi Knight who was introduced to us as a young man with the best of intentions, yet one who would fall far in pursuit of answers. Friendly with both Zallah Macri and Kevmo Zink, the strange deaths of both Jedi cause Azlin to return to Coruscant, seeking answers in lore and history as the two Jedi had gone to Dalna in pursuit of a missing artifact. By the time Azlin returns to Dalna two months later, he brings members of the Jedi Council, Jedi Temple Guards, and other Jedi seeking answers from the Path. Path of Vengeance shows us how badly that goes, but unlike many other Jedi, the brush with the Nameless leaves a permanent mark on Azlin Rell.

In the Edge of Balance: Precedent manga, we see the beginnings of Azlin’s fall, his insanity permanently marring his vision and mind, causing him to vanish from Jedi custody, pursuing his own answers. Rediscovered by Yoda a century and a half later at the end of Phase 1, Phase 3’s Shadows of Starlight shows the depths to which Azlin has fallen, destroying a portion of a city and killing its thousands of inhabitants in a bid to ensure no one can reach Planet X. Now, still kept in the Jedi Temple under heavier guard, Azlin slowly reveals his secrets to Reath Silas, and the recent Tears of the Nameless and Edge of Balance Volume 3 each dive into his character. He is a figure right out of a horror story, a human being who has lived for far too long to be natural, with an intense drive and unique supernatural knowledge of critical importance. Just what his fate is remains to be seen, and we eagerly await Wave 3’s finale to show it to us.

1. Vernestra Rwoh

Vernertra Rwoh — Image Source: StarWars.com

Vernestra Rwoh is probably the best-known Jedi of the High Republic period due to her jump into live-action as part of The Acolyte D+ show. But before she was a Jedi Master 100 years before The Phantom Menace, she was a prodigy. Padawan to Master Stellan Gios, she graduated to the rank of Knight before she turned 16 and also soon gained a Padawan in Imri Cantaros. Her unique connection with hyperspace next ended up drawing her into the mystery of Mari San Tekka, the creator of the Paths the Nihil used to such terrible effect in the raids and attacks against the galaxy. Gaining one final Path from the dying Mari’s mind, she ends the ancient woman’s life at her request to cease her suffering. However, in the wake of The Fallen Star, where Vernestra believes Imri to be dead and knows her old master to be dead, she goes rogue. Declaring herself a Wayseeker, she goes out into the galaxy seeking to help people before being brought back into contact with an old friend, Avon Starros, in desperate need of help to save the hidden Imri’s life. Encountering her former Padawan and knighting him in a touching realization of how much he’d grown over the past year, Vernestra then returns to the Jedi and resumes in her direct aid against the Nihil and the growing problem of the blight. Vernestra is one of a kind, with a unique power in the Force and ties to a myriad of characters among the Jedi and out in the civilian world of The High Republic. How this chapter of her life wraps up will be fascinating to read in just a handful of months.

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Source(s): Star Wars: Jedi: Survivor, The Fallen Star, Convergence, Cataclysm, Light of the Jedi, The Rising Storm, Shadows of Starlight, The High Republic (2021), Out of the Shadows, Midnight Horizon, Tears of the Nameless, Echoes of Fear, Edge of Balance: Precedent, Edge of Balance Volume 3